New Housing Estates -

But do older people necessarily want 2 bedroomed homes? Quite a number of my friends have downsized, but more to reduce the size of the garden than reduce the size of the house.

Many older people do not have their family living nearby and need at least three bedrooms to accommodate them when they visit, many want a craftroom or study.

I really do not understand why it is always assumed that older people with more than 2 bedrooms want snd ought to downsize to these 2 bedroomed identikit properties.

Many younger single people and childless couples are buying properties with more than 2 bedrooms, nobody questions why they are living in houses with unoccupied and surplus bedrooms. Even if an older person did sell their family house, there is no guarantee it will be bought by a family. It may well be bought by a similar household of one or two people but 30 or 40 years younger.

Why are older people castigated for wanting more than 2 bedrooms? Why is it assumed that we 'rattle round' in family homes after the family have left, rather than expanding to use all of it ourselves?

We retired to a large 4 bedroomed house, we may move on sometime to get a smaller garden, but not a smaller house.
It is time we started thinking outside the stereotypical housing box that all older people are shoved into and begin to realise that a 2 bedroomed flat or bungalow does not fit all, or even the majority.

We do need 3 bedrooms, as we have family overseas who we hope will be able to visit when the pandemic is over.

A friend and her husband with family in Ameruca moved from a large 4 bedroomed detached house to a 2 bedroomed bungalow with just sitting room and kitchen and said she hated it and it was difficult when family visited. A step too far.

And a utility room, please, why is it assumed laundry should be done in the kitchen?
It's also a place for wet macs, muddy shoes, DH's tool kit, general clutter etc
Perhaps old people are supposed to lead very neat lives.

It’s not just the number of rooms, it’s the size.

When OH and I decided to move in together we went looking at bungalows. Honestly he stood in one living room and he filled it upI When he spread his arms he could almost touch wall to wall. Likewise the bedrooms.

In the end we bought a four bed. It’s just about big enough for all we want to do.

The new builds are a way of the Gov giving money back to it's donors by increasing their profits. DD1 and SIL had a substantial deposit thanks to his father. They applied for the gov scheme that matches the savings of first time buyers but they didn't qualify because it's only available to first time buyers who are buying new builds. They didn't buy a new build but you can understand why first time buyers do if they can afford it as the savings matching can be a substantial amount.

It is also the space to move around in, not just to eat, sleep and sit passively in front of the TV. Older people are less likely to want to go outside to walk around in bad weather when they could slip on ice or have to fight against the wind, so are restricted to their own four walls for winter exercise. They need to be able to step out enough to make them breathe more deeply. In a home with only a few rooms, and those very cramped, there is no space to walk freely around without being careful not to bump into furniture or trip on things.

Aot of new estates seem to be just thrown up in the middle of nowhere. Promised shopping centres, schools etc often fail to materialise and residents are totally car dependent.

It makes it very difficult to build up a proper community spirit, and many of these estates can be quite soulless places to live in.

Kiwigramz

I agree with you completely. We all need a certain amount of space. Some estates don’t even have separate gardens any more. You can choose friends but not neighbours.

Seems quite common in some American properties. Large family houses with communal grounds. Good for the children wanting to play out and presumably no grass to cut every other weekend. Great if all the neighbours can cooperate and agree but could foresee problems if they had a few moaning Minnies. Presumably you wouldn’t buy this kind of property if you wanted exclusive use of a garden or yard.

We’ve obviously been watching too many episodes of the Property Brothers over lockdown!

We are about to discover for ourselves! We should be moving soon to a ground floor flat where the grass is cut by contractors but the flower beds etc maintained by the owners (nearly put inmates!). Freudian slip!

We have had to gi up to Northamptonshire a lot recently, loads of houses being built round Desborough and Wellingborough, why don't these new houses have solar panels, I think it should be mandatory in new builds.

I completely agree with OP I went to see a three bedroom semi once which wasn’t cheap and me and hubby couldn’t fit in the kitchen together if I was cooking, and your view from the kitchen window were the red brick walls of another house
Agree that these building companies are very greedy

grannysyb

We have had to gi up to Northamptonshire a lot recently, loads of houses being built round Desborough and Wellingborough, why don't these new houses have solar panels, I think it should be mandatory in new builds.

Some new houses are built with Photovoltaic cell roof tiles, which you wouldn’t necessarily notice as they are the size of the roof tile.

As mentioned above, we are moving soon to a ground floor flat and it hadn’t even occurred to me that I should feel any shame![hmmm] I’ve fallen down the outside steps down to the front door once, banging my head on the way.

When I was very unwell in December I stood at the bottom of the stairs and really struggled with the idea of getting back to my bed! I’m much better now but it did bring home to us that it is better to move now than to wait until one of us is seriously incapacitated and, like a neighbour who had a heart attack and then was trapped in the house.

We were amazed at how tiny the accommodation was in some of the flats and bungalows we viewed. Barely room for two armchairs and a coffee table.

Blocks of offices near town are being converted into flats so it will be interesting to see how quickly they are occupied.

Detached bungalows here are often demolished and very much larger multi family occupied houses are built instead. Largely done by the Asian community but the young women often insist on their own kitchen rather than a large shared communal one.

The property/properties are then surrounded by high iron fences and gates. The children can then play out and the family doesn’t have to get involved with any unknown neighbours. They have told us that they prefer to avoid bank loans and mortgages by building in stages when they’ve pooled enough money. Sometimes takes years but preferable to debt with outside sources.

We looked at a new house on an expensive estate about twenty years ago, and couldn't believe how tiny the rooms were; clever use of mirrors, two seater sofas and smaller armchairs made it seem far more spacious than it was. The final straw was looking out onto the garden. We initially thought it wasn't overlarge but not a bad size for a new property - only to realise that it was communal, and shared with two other houses.

My new-build semi has a huge kitchen/dining room; a large living room that fits a two-seater, a three-seater and a very large armchair, as well as a large TV and several coffee tables.

My bedroom fits my super-king bed with space to spare. And there are two other double bedrooms.

Not all new-builds are skimped.

One thing that always makes me wonder - just whose house can you fit the new sofas that are currently advertised everywhere?
Certainly not many new builds!
I also have a gripe about the lack of parking spaces provided by developers - in Aus each house must have minimum space to park 2 cars and when a friend was looking at a new house, and commented on the size of the outside space provided , that it was rather small for a family home and she was told by the agent that large gardens were "not fashionable!"

I agree grannysyb. That and grey water recycling where rainwater is kept in an underground tank and used for toilet flushing and watering the garden.

There is plenty of land to build on, and to make housing developments attractive, with some open spaces and trees. But, as has been said, developers want to make excessive amounts of money and it pays to cram as many homes into the smallest space possible.

Cramming families into small homes is very bad for mental health and must affect motivation and morale for adults and children. Kitchens and sitting rooms in flats in even the quite expensive flats are often combined and there is very little room for children to study or adults to work, if they work from home. There also appears to be a lack of storage space in most new homes, especially flats. Balconies are therefore used to dry washing and store stuff that cannot be contained within the body of the home.

This is the headline from This is Money, December 2015:
"Rise of the 'rabbit hutch' homes: Half of new-build three-bed properties are too small for families, architects warn - and Yorkshire has the pokiest"

One cause of falls is small rooms with too much furniture, typically caused by downsizing and bringing furniture from a bigger house and people tripping over it. You need plenty of space for a Zimmer [or zimmers if there are 2 of you], wheel chairs, recliner chairs [ these take up a lot more space than an ordinary armchair because well they recline and the footrest goes up, if you have to have space for a Zimmer next to it then this is a lot of space. If you have a stairlift then you need space top and bottom to leave a Zimmer or walker.
You need space in kitchen for walker/Zimmer/somewhere to sit. You need space in the bathroom or loo for aids you need, and for someone to come and help you if need be
All these things help people with disabled youngsters or parents with young children. Even if walkers are only used outside you need space to store it without tripping over it, much like a pram
Macarthy stone does not really cater for those with extra care needs. They sell a lifestyle dream that could be achieved with suitable help elsewhere for cheaper if you have a house in good repair, you have much to pay monthly and if you have to move, or if you die, the price you or your heirs get is much less than an ordinary flat, you have to keep paying all the charges too until sold. They do not keep on the management forever either
They advertise some from 55 too so you could be locked in for 30 plus years - and such a development is aimed towards active 55 year olds, so further out of town, those for older people are nearer facilities, something to be borne in mind. Obviously if you know you have a limited lifespan than expected when you move that's different. As others have said if your family is further away putting them up can be difficult, and expensive
Having a downstairs loo at least is really helpful, and lots of houses do not have one. and can make a big difference to how long you can easily live in a place
What gets me is those programmes on tv where people are retiring to the country and go for humungous gardens and turn down houses with kitchens bigger than my house's footprint because they are cramped. Well, maybe some people don't mind moving, seems as if they do not take into account what happens as people age

There is a huge development being built on the edge of my town and it will effectively double the size of the town, They will have a doctors surgery and a primary school. No plans whatsoever for a new secondary school. The current one is already difficult to get into, many people are having to send their kids to out of town comps already. It’s just insane.

Gwyneth

The problem is this small island is vastly overpopulated so sadly I can only see houses getting smaller. What is the alternative? Building on every green space available means that children have nowhere to play or people to walk and exercise.

Yes, but the green belt is getting built on with tiny houses with tiny even zero gardens.

My idea is to build on the green belt but every house must be roomy and have a garden thirty feet wide and 120 feet long.

With a neighbourhood parkland here and there.

I know the green belt, the green belt, but it is wrong to keep green belt while people do not have a decent home to live in.

Just move most of the green belt into people's gardens, it is still mostly green belt. Green belt with houses sparsley within it.

And proper tenancies too, not this can be turfed out with a month's no fault tenancy termination or only three years security at a time. People need to put down roots, plant a tree and watch it grow over the years. Not continual anxiety over where they are going to live.

Back gardens of one road against back gardens of a parallel road. That way 240 feet of garden between two rows of houses.

That way, gardens can have trees and greenery can flourish and children have safe places to play.

Impossible?

No, the estate where I grew up is like that! Built in 1950.

Quality, solid housing, built by the Council. Built in what was a field before.

Surely this country can do now what it could do in 1950.

M0nica i do kind of agree with you in terms of the house and number of bedrooms, i am on my own in a 3 bed and i use every room. The smallest BR is a dressing room and has storage cupboards as well. I have my BR and the largest is going to be a guest room for when and if family are able to stay over. I am in the process of having decorating, replastering and new carpets being laid so all a bit topsy turvy at the mo but hopefully once everything done it will be lovely. Its my garden which is my biggest worry. It is large and it has just cost a fortune for a tree surgeon to come and cut and reshape a 12ft out of control shrub over an archway. DH was unable to trim it for last two years due to his health and what with covid etc it just didnt get done. When DH died i knew i wouldnt be able to do the work so had no choice. I also need a new garden shed so that again will involve a lot of money as i want it relocating to a differnt part of garden so need a base, then of course the area the orignal shed is on will need sorting out!!! If i could pick up my home and relocate somewhere with a smaller garden i would. Then i would miss my lovely neighbours!!!!

500 new detached house have been built in our village you couldn't walk between them they are so close together .They are very small inside the bedrooms are tiny but with an ensuite no storage cupboards at all but what has sprung up are a number of self storage facilities at £120 a month

Exactly the same where I live. Houses that are advertised as having 5 bedrooms have one in what most home owners call the loft, so very shallow and odd shaped. Also if you go to look at these houses they usually don’t have the doors hung inside so rooms look larger. Most gardens don’t even have room for a twirly washing line - just a tiny ‘patio’ big enough for a barbecue. As you say, the standard of build is not good either.

I think the only way to stop all this is for building societies and banks to refuse mortgages. We have a huge estate built on a floodplain (the developers say they have fixed that (hmm). Most people are having problems getting insurance.

If you think that the houses are small you should look at the flats! The other problem is that some of the smaller flats have two bathrooms as well as two bedrooms, reducing the bedroom room size still further. It's interesting that quite a few ex-local authority houses are still cheaper than new estate houses but most have better sized rooms and gardens.

We have the smallest new houses in Europe.

The best ones to look for in an expensive area are the ex local authority 1950's house which were built to a high standard and have decent sized gardens.

However, one in my village is selling for over £600,000.